Shami ahmed-First impression..!!!

[Abhilash123]

He even managed to root the middle stump of watson..When he was looking solid(he scored 100+ at that time i assume)!! One good thing is he is not trusting our fielders :D

[NareshK]

The fact that he can get the ball to reverse in a prodigious way means he will always be a threat in Indian conditions because there is very little help for new ball bowlers in India. Zaheer got many of his wickets with reverse swing. It will be interesting to see how he bowls in Mumbai because thats another ground which assists reverse swing and its not his home ground. I would also like to see Umesh getting a game before going to SA. He is another bowler who can reverse the ball with pace. Bhuvi must also have ability to reverse the ball because his FC average is very good and he must have bowled and picked a lot of wickets with the old ball. But his pace is 10K less than Shami or Umesh and hence international quality batsmen have enough time to adjust to the swing and don't get troubled as much compared to domestic quality batsmen.

[Number]

The fact that he can get the ball to reverse in a prodigious way means he will always be a threat in Indian conditions because there is very little help for new ball bowlers in India. Zaheer got many of his wickets with reverse swing. It will be interesting to see how he bowls in Mumbai because thats another ground which assists reverse swing and its not his home ground. I would also like to see Umesh getting a game before going to SA. He is another bowler who can reverse the ball with pace. Bhuvi must also have ability to reverse the ball because his FC average is very good and he must have bowled and picked a lot of wickets with the old ball. But his pace is 10K less than Shami or Umesh and hence international quality batsmen have enough time to adjust to the swing and don't get troubled as much compared to domestic quality batsmen.

You can only reverse at 135k or above, else it is very minimal. Even Zak used to up his pace into 140s while reversing, I remember him touching 148 against Australia. Bhuvi plays most of his games in UP during winters and he cashes on it using his traditional swing skills.

[rkt.india]

Bhuvi must also have ability to reverse the ball because his FC average is very good and he must have bowled and picked a lot of wickets with the old ball. But his pace is 10K less than Shami or Umesh and hence international quality batsmen have enough time to adjust to the swing and don't get troubled as much compared to domestic quality batsmen.

No. He has not. He is usually useless even in FC once ball gets old. He picks most of his wickets with new ball.

[cowboysfan]

No. He has not. He is usually useless even in FC once ball gets old. He picks most of his wickets with new ball.

why the hate for BK man? I know you want Umesh to play but Dhoni will pick him if he is bowling well but that might not be happening right now.

[FischerTal]

why the hate for BK man? I know you want Umesh to play but Dhoni will pick him if he is bowling well but that might not be happening right now.

Umesh is must overseas. BK will play third seamer quite effectively, but at home umesh has proven to be more effective

[saneindian]

The same old BS which was spread about PK and which I showed was wrong in a post some time ago. BK played two India A games vs WI A and NZ A last year.. vs NZ A - 3/94, 1st wicket of Latham in 18th over, 2nd wicket of Young in 48th over, 3rd wicket of Woodcock in 72nd over. http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/443/443656.html vs WI A - 1st innings - 2/42, both with new balls one in 12th over, other with 2nd balll 2ns Innings - 3/44 - Two in 47th over and 3rd one in 53rd over http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/434/434795.html These performances propelled him to the national squad and he did well with the old ball. As a swing seam bowler obviously he will do better with new ball but to say he can't pick wickets with older balls is wrong.

[rkt.india]

why the hate for BK man? I know you want Umesh to play but Dhoni will pick him if he is bowling well but that might not be happening right now.

I do not hate BK. I just stated the facts. The best bowler with old ball for UP was Sudeep Tyagi who bowled quick and reversed the ball. BK can play matches overseas where he will get help with new ball but not in India. He will contain but not pick up too many wickets at home.

[rkt.india]

These performances propelled him to the national squad and he did well with the old ball. As a swing seam bowler obviously he will do better with new ball but to say he can't pick wickets with older balls is wrong.

Why cannot he able to pick wickets now, averaging 40 is a great record. You are showing matches played overseas while we are talking about India.

[vvvslaxman]

I do not hate BK. I just stated the facts. The best bowler with old ball for UP was Sudeep Tyagi who bowled quick and reversed the ball. BK can play matches overseas where he will get help with new ball but not in India. He will contain but not pick up too many wickets at home.

That depends.. when you play and on what surface you play.. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_34pKWJh30U]Bhuvneshwar Kumar's 3-9 Dream Spell in India vs Pak 1st T20 - YouTube[/ame] [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbYaCXDQRrA]Bhuvneshwar Kumar took 3 wickets for 29 runs (India vs England 2013: 2nd ODI) - YouTube[/ame]

[rkt.india]

That depends.. when you play and on what surface you play.. Bhuvneshwar Kumar's 3-9 Dream Spell in India vs Pak 1st T20 - YouTube [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbYaCXDQRrA]Bhuvneshwar Kumar took 3 wickets for 29 runs (India vs England 2013: 2nd ODI) - YouTube[/ur

How many times you are going to get such a pitch in India? It was more of an anomaly.

[Magneto]

That was his first Duleep trophy match' date=' final between East and Central Zone in 2011, which he played once Nechim got injured and was unplayable, took 8 wickets along with 6 catches dropped of him in slip and by WK. This was the match which brought him in foray, in the eyes of selectors and he was straightaway picked for India A. Though I was keeping an eye on him even before that when he debuted for Bengal.[/quote'] RKT that match happened in 2012 which we all watched. The WK did not miss a single chance, it was the slip fielders all the while. Going by this thread, Shami was first spotted/hyped up at ICF during IPL 2011 (after some dope and hype I am guessing). He also became a Bengal regular only in 2011.

[vvvslaxman]

How many times you are going to get such a pitch in India? It was more of an anomaly.

you can't select a different team for each pitch and each tour. Doesn't work that way. Never gonna happen. I would persist with a guy who does well abroad than at home. At home spinners are going to support more. Abroad remember how Sree , Ishant, VK bungled big time. We cannot sit BK for all matches at home and suddenly out of the blue call him for SA tour. Team selections don't work that way.

[rkt.india]

RKT that match happened in 2012 which we all watched. The WK did not miss a single chance, it was the slip fielders all the while. Going by this thread, Shami was first spotted/hyped up at ICF during IPL 2011 (after some dope and hype I am guessing). He also became a Bengal regular only in 2011.

No. I watched that match and wicket keeper had also dropped a catch.

[saneindian]

Why cannot he able to pick wickets now' date=' averaging 40 is a great record. You are showing matches played overseas while we are talking about India.[/quote'] We are talking of his record in FC cricket not just Indian FC cricket. And you called him useless with old ball in "FC cricket" which obviously is not true. How many domestic matches have you seen him bowl in? I don't recall too many of domestic matches he's played being shown live recently. He's a role in the team to bowl with the new ball right now and provide control to the captai which he's doing admirably. Has already bowled 2 spells which were ina way match winning spells IMO taking 3 wickets each for nothing. Just for example, Shami Ahmed's 1st spells in both the innings of the last test went for runs, imagine runs being leaked from the other end too, could the result have been different? If Gayle was able to hit the other new ball bowler as well, it could have been a totally different game. BTW talking of bowling averages, Umesh Yadav averages 40 in Aus, would you call him useless in Aus as well?

[rkt.india]

you can't select a different team for each pitch and each tour. Doesn't work that way. Never gonna happen. I would persist with a guy who does well abroad than at home. At home spinners are going to support more. Abroad remember how Sree ' date=' Ishant, VK bungled big time. We cannot sit BK for all matches at home and suddenly out of the blue call him for SA tour. Team selections don't work that way.[/quote'] Why not? All the teams do that. You are not bound to play same set of players everywhere. Umesh and Shami should be two strike bowlers everywhere as they both can do well with new and old ball and BK comes in as third bowler when we tour abroad in test matches. Even Ishant was a much better bowler on Indian pitches than BK.

[rkt.india]

We are talking of his record in FC cricket not just Indian FC cricket. And you called him useless with old ball in "FC cricket" which obviously is not true. How many domestic matches have you seen him bowl in? I don't recall too many of domestic matches he's played being shown live recently. He's a role in the team to bowl with the new ball right now and provide control to the captai which he's doing admirably. Has already bowled 2 spells which were ina way match winning spells IMO taking 3 wickets each for nothing. Just for example, Shami Ahmed's 1st spells in both the innings of the last test went for runs, imagine runs being leaked from the other end too, could the result have been different? If Gayle was able to hit the other new ball bowler as well, it could have been a totally different game. BTW talking of bowling averages, Umesh Yadav averages 40 in Aus, would you call him useless in Aus as well?

But Umesh has a good SR and a 5-fer which shows there is something to work with. If BK can take a 4-fer or 5-fer in India, I will never question him. Shami went for runs because he went for wickets and bowled fuller lengths. So many of those runs were through edges. BK bowled containing length. There was a huge difference in length of both the bowlers with new ball. Shami tried to swing, BK tried to contain. Here because Shami took 9 wickets, you are able to defend BK, but once Shami wont take those wickets then we will see what happens.

[Magneto]

No. I watched that match and wicket keeper had also dropped a catch.

LOL. We all watched it.

[ganeshran]

Like with Rohit , consistency is the key here. A lot of our bowlers have had promising starts only to fade away. Let's see how Shami does

[rkt.india]

LOL. We all watched it.

I was keeping an eye on him even before this IPL since his Ranji debut.